Enron Corp

Enron Corp. has agreed to settle charges by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that it sought to illegally manipulate natural gas prices. But because other creditors have claims against Enron, now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the board is not expected to collect the $35-million penalty.

NEW YORK -- Jeffrey Skilling, the former chief executive of defunct energy giant Enron Corp., could win early release from prison in a deal with the Justice Department, according to a report Thursday. CNBC said Skilling's attorneys and the Justice Department were discussing a deal, but that it was unclear how much his sentence could be shortened. Skilling, who was convicted on charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading, has been serving a 24-year sentence since 2006. Quiz: How well do you remember 2012?

Enron Corp., the once-dominant energy trader whose collapse in 2001 led to sweeping corporate reforms, said Thursday that its bankruptcy reorganization was completed, and that it canceled its near-worthless shares. The company said it sold the largest of its remaining business assets, and would become a shell company.

Three British bankers were sentenced Friday to just over three years in prison for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow. A federal judge sentenced David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew each to 37 months.

Enron Corp. will return its Northwestern utility to its pre-Enron form as an independent, investor-owned business in light of Oregon regulators' decision to block its sale to a Texas-based private investment firm, the company said. Enron said it had abandoned the deal to sell Portland General Electric to a holding company backed by Texas Pacific Group. That proposal failed to pass muster with Oregon regulators last month.

Jeffrey McMahon, the former chief financial officer of Enron Corp., has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle fraud charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. McMahon also agreed to be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years, the SEC said. He agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the charges.

Portland General Electric, a unit of Enron Corp., won't face a delay in an investigation of allegations of market manipulation during California's energy crisis, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judge ordered. The decision by FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner means that hearings on whether Enron and other companies encouraged power shortages in California to boost prices set to begin April 1 will go ahead as planned.

Leslie Caldwell, head of the Justice Department team prosecuting executives of Enron Corp., is stepping down after more than a year on the job. Caldwell's replacement as director of the Enron Task Force will be the current deputy, Andrew Weissmann, who will take over after a brief transition, the department said. The announcement said Caldwell, who has been a federal prosecutor in San Francisco and New York, was leaving to pursue unspecified opportunities.

Lawyers who recovered about $7.2 billion in settlements for Enron Corp. investors hurt by the energy trader's collapse are slated to get about $700 million in fees under a plan to distribute the money. Officials of the University of California Regents, the lead plaintiffs in the securities-fraud case, said they would ask a judge in Houston to approve the plan so they could begin paying out funds from settlements with Enron's former lenders.

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay Enron Corp. $25 million and to give up $416 million in unsecured claims to resolve litigation filed by the defunct energy trader during its bankruptcy. In exchange, Enron won't dispute $378 million in unsecured claims the German bank has against it. Deutsche Bank also accepted $35 million to surrender its interests in three transactions. The proceeds, expected to exceed $100 million, will be distributed to Enron's creditors.

Three British bankers who were set to go to trial for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow changed their pleas to guilty Wednesday. David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew originally pleaded not guilty to seven counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors alleged that they colluded with Fastow in a secret financial scam in 2000 to enrich themselves at their employers' expense.

A judge says the federal government can proceed with its attempt to seize nearly $13 million from the estate of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth L. Lay. U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein rejected a request from Lay's widow to halt the government's bid for the money, which prosecutors claim were "proceeds of the fraud proven in the criminal case against Lay." Kenneth Lay had been convicted in May 2006 of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases.

Imprisoned former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling asked Friday for a new trial, saying the Justice Department used incorrect legal theories and "coercive and abusive tactics" to win a conviction, including threatening witnesses. Skilling was sentenced in October to more than 24 years in prison for his role in the collapse of Enron Corp. He was convicted along with founder Kenneth L. Lay in May 2006, on 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors.

Lawyers who recovered about $7.2 billion in settlements for Enron Corp. investors hurt by the energy trader's collapse are slated to get about $700 million in fees under a plan to distribute the money. Officials of the University of California Regents, the lead plaintiffs in the securities-fraud case, said they would ask a judge in Houston to approve the plan so they could begin paying out funds from settlements with Enron's former lenders.

Jeffrey McMahon, the former chief financial officer of Enron Corp., has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle fraud charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. McMahon also agreed to be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years, the SEC said. He agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the charges.

Enron Corp. won court approval of a settlement in which it agreed to pay $35 million to resolve charges by U.S. commodity regulators. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that the Houston-based energy trader manipulated natural gas prices in 2001. Under the agreement, which was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York, Enron will cooperate with the commission by sharing documents and other information about its activities before the bankruptcy filing.

Kenneth Lay, Enron Corp.'s founder and former chairman, could be indicted on charges stemming from its 2001 collapse by the end of June. Sources close to the case told Associated Press that federal prosecutors were aggressively pursuing Lay, and witnesses with information about him had recently testified before a special grand jury. Barring delays, federal prosecutors aim to ask the grand jury for an indictment before July 4, the sources said.

The former chief of Enron Corp.'s Internet unit was sentenced to 27 months for his role in misleading investors in the fraud that sent the world's largest energy trader into bankruptcy. Kenneth Rice, 48, onetime chief executive of Enron Broadband Services, was sentenced in Houston by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore to the prison term, a $50,000 fine and two years' post-prison supervised release. He could have faced as much as 10 years in prison.